Ten years ago, Colin Meloy and his merry band of murder balladeers broke out from the indie label circuit with their Capitol Records debut, The Crane Wife. By that point, we all knew The Decemberists as a quirky Portland outfit with a flare for folk-tinged storytelling and a particular appeal to bookish liberal arts majors.

American Wrestlers' Goodbye Terrible Youth tackles the most difficult obstacle for any young, lo-fi, "bedroom pop" act: learning how to make your sound bigger and clearer without sanding off any of the appealingly rough edges.

Kurt Wagner's ever-reliable Nashville outfit Lambchop hasn't been heard from since 2012's Mr. M, but last year Wagner and a couple buddies got together to release an excellent, subdued electronic album under the name HeCTA.

Classic Interviews

For our Track-by-Track feature, we go in-depth with an artist about each song on their new album. This week we are featuring of Montreal's Lousy With Sylvianbriar, and for the next three days we'll post commentary by frontman Kevin Barnes on all of the album's songs.

In terms of popularity, Superman is a paradox among superheroes. He is the heroic archetype, iconic and eternal. But when it comes to actual stories, nothing outside of his origins really come to mind, and most fans would even admit that the overpowered nature of Superman's abilities just makes him boring.

In Claire King's new novel, we meet Baptiste Molino, a therapist with a curious history. The book follows Baptiste, painting a picture of the struggles of life, love, happiness, longing, and friendship.

Tim Kingsbury of Arcade Fire has announced his debut solo album, but it will be issued under the name Sam Patch. Yeah You, And I is due out February 17, 2017 via Dep Records. He has also shared the album's first single, "St. Sebastian," and announced some tour dates. Check out the song and tour dates below, as well as the cover art

To end out the week, we ask Psychic Twin (aka Erin Fein) some questions about endings and death. Fein was the frontwoman for the late great Champaign, Illinois dream pop/indie pop band Headlights, who released three excellent underrated albums on Polyvinyl before breaking up in 2012.

Amanda Palmer doesn't have a lot of time to talk. Having spent the day rehearsing at London's Royal Albert Hall for a special David Bowie tribute concert alongside Anna Calvi, John Cale, and Marc Almond, which will be broadcast across the country by the BBC, the artist also known for being half of the outlandish cabaret/performance art duo The Dresden Dolls is moments away from enjoying a nice quiet dinner with her husband, acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, and infant son.

Relationships often can be strained for members of internationally touring bands. But for Melbourne, Australia, four-piece Terry, it's not a concern. That's because the band consists of two sets of couples-Amy Hill and Al Montfort and Xanthe Waite and Zephyr Pavey.

With the 41st Toronto International Film Festival around the corner, the list of films set to be playing cover so many styles and genres that there truly is something for every taste. TIFF is about variety and access. It is friendly to the public and is far from being an exclusive affair. It is a celebration of film, filmmakers and film lovers. That said, deciding on what movies to target is a tall order with such a massive slate.

I’ll be covering TIFF for Under the Radar this year. The festival runs from September 8 – 18. The following are 10 movies I’m especially interested in seeing with a little rundown on why I’m looking forward to them. After this, I’ll have a second 15 titles I’m also interested in. This is only scratches the surface of the total list. If your most anticipated is missing, feel free to pop on down in the comments section and make a case for it. Depending on the schedule, I likely won’t be able to see all of these movies during the festival. It’s 10 days of running around to various venues and still finding the time to eat, sleep and write. Onto the list!

In part 5 of Under the Radar's 2016 Holiday Gift Guide we offer up some technology and apparel items. They may not seem like obvious bedfellows, but our lead tech item is a wearable speaker system that fills your body with sound. There is also a speaker designed for streaming music and some fun geeky clothing and jewelry.

There's a small moment in The Walking Dead's season one finale "TS-19," where Rick Grimes tells Dr. Edwin Jenner that he's "grateful" that he and his group have been allowed to enter the safety of the CDC. "The day will come when you won't be" is Jenner's grim reply.